The Divorced Military Queen Awakens (by Sadie Baxter) novel Chapter 364

Chapter 364 Never Love Again

Another crack rang out, as crisp and merciless as ice shattering in the dead of winter.

$47

+10 Free Coins

“So that’s your plan–follow in your father’s footprints and force a child to grow up bearing your scars?” Quinn’s voice was arctic, every word a blade.

Julius froze, spine locking straight as a post. All color drained from his face in a single brutal heartbeat.

He had sworn, with every breath, that he was nothing like the man who sired him, and yet moments ago, he almost did the same thing his father would.

“But you… you’re not my mother. You would never choose death the way she did, right?” Julius’s lips trembled as he whispered the plea.

“You’re right–I’m not your mother, and I won’t end my life for anyone. Push me, Julius, and I will either terminate the child or vanish with it, so deep into the world that you will never, ever find us,” she said coldly.

A tremor rippled through him; breath snagged in his throat as though invisible fingers were choking the very air away.

Yes–Quinn was not his mother; she would not drift into death’s arms. Instead, she would carve a new path, one that erased him completely. Am I doomed to chase her forever, wanting what I could never hold?

“Do you really hate the thought of being with me again that much?” The despair drowning his eyes was almost painful to witness.

“I despise being forced. Whether I carry a child is my decision–never yours. Julius, I am not your mother, and you must stop trying to become your father.”

He lowered his lashes and let darkness close over his eyes.

“Ha… Hahaha…” The laughter that spilled from his lips was a ragged, defeated thing, as though he were laughing at the funeral of his own hopes.

He was a child again, back in that suffocating mansion, each lash of his father’s belt branding the same verdict: useless, worthless, incapable even of keeping his mother alive. He had sworn he would never become that man. And yet, here he was, becoming the man he hated most.

“Julius?” Quinn watched him, the sight of his broken smile stirring an ache she could not

name.

1/3

18:00 Thu, Sep 4

Chapter 364 Never Love Again

$47

+10 Free Coins

She knew his wounds; she had traced their scars with her eyes. Yet understanding did not equal forgiveness, and it never would if he tried to cage her. No amount of pity for a boy mistreated could excuse the man he chose to become.

At last, after what felt like whole seasons passing, Julius opened his eyes.

The despair was gone; in its place lay a barren, colorless stillness.

It was the same emptiness she had seen the very first time their paths crossed.

“Very well, Quinn. I won’t lay a hand on you, and I won’t force you. If you choose not to stay by my side, I will stop chasing after you. Like you said before, we walk apart from here.”

The last word had barely left Julius‘ mouth when he rose from the edge of the mattress. He never looked back at Quinn. Silent and rigid, he walked straight out of the bedroom.

In the hush that followed, the room felt cavernous, its stillness pressing down until Quinn seemed the only soul on earth.

Flat on her back, Quinn let a long, tremoring breath leak from her chest.

You should feel relieved, she told herself. If Julius had pushed any further, with my injured shoulder, real danger might have come for me.

So why can’t I shake the image of those lifeless eyes he showed me at the door?

Across the house, Julius strode into his study and slammed a clenched fist against the glass cabinet. Shards burst outward, glittering as they fell, and scarlet streaked across his knuckles.

Bright drops spattered the hardwood, a dark trail marking each heartbeat.

“I will never–never–become my father,” Julius hissed, a broken laugh scraping across his throat.

He knew too well that loving someone, begging for love, could twist a man into the monster he despised.

Maybe if I stop loving altogether, none of that will happen, right?

If he could cut loose every strand of yearning, every restless memory, he might never repeat his father’s tragedy.

If only I could return to the way things were.

Back to the days before I ever met her…

2/3

18:00 Thu, Sep 4

Chapter 364 Never Love Again

:

47

+10 Free Coins.

The next morning, Quinn woke to an empty bed–and an emptier house. Julius was nowhere in sight.

Downstairs, the dining table held a neatly arranged breakfast, steam curling from a pitcher of fresh coffee.

Did Julius make this?

She scanned every doorway, yet the man himself remained conspicuously absent.

Is he avoiding me on purpose?

Quinn had just sat down when the corner of her eye caught a flash of silver outside the floor- to–ceiling windows. A helicopter rested on the lawn, and she froze mid–breath.

A helicopter? Why would one set down here of all places? Could Joaquin Whitethorn have shown up again?

Heart leaping, she dashed outside, eyes fixed on the whirring machine.

Yet the lawn was free of Joaquin or any other familiar figure.

Footsteps crunched on the gravel behind her.

Quinn spun and found a face she had not expected.

“Fabian?”

“It’s me, Ms. Bridger,” Fabian said as he stepped closer.

“Why are you here? And what’s with the helicopter?”